February 28, 2024
Dear Members:
Gender issues hang in the balance across our communities, our province, our country, and the North American continent. People are taking to the streets to protest human rights and spread hate. In Canada and the States, some lawmakers have stripped women and gender diverse individual’s rights and autonomy over their own bodies and other politicians are promising to follow in these regressive steps and it seems like there is an undercurrent in Canadian political rhetoric to do the same. Abortion is effectively banned or at least severely restricted in states including Florida and Texas. Instead of celebrating this International Women’s Day, I’m making protest signs.
In the past six months I’ve stood on the street supporting trans people and other marginalized groups against the unbelievable hate hurled in their direction. I’ve stood outside the Chilliwack school board offices while a contingent of protesters from outside the community screamed against sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) 123, the provincial resource that supports educators in addressing human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity. I’ve attended de-escalation training intended to help keep people safe at these divisive events. I’ve attended pro human rights events and chalked support messages for our trans family and friends. I’ve written bulletins speaking out against hate and affirming the FSA’s support for everyone in our university community, including people who identify as LGBTQ2SIA+. It’s impossible for me to separate gender equity from equity for all.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre was recently quoted saying “’biological males’ should be banned from women’s sports, change rooms and bathrooms.” In Alberta, Premier Danielle Smith’s government is introducing changes to forbid trans women from competing in women’s sports leagues, prohibit hormonal treatments for children younger than 15, and require parental permission to change pronouns at school. New Brunswick and Saskatchewan already require parental consent for pronoun changes at school. Additionally, Smith was quoted as saying that she wants parents to opt in every time students learn about sex education or identity at school, setting the scene for a potential bureaucratic nightmare that will see young people potentially miss out on critical material, including reproductive health information, that could potentially save their lives.
According to the CBC, this is what students currently learn in Alberta schools:
Lessons on consent start in Grade 1 in Alberta. Sexual health education addresses puberty changes in Grade 4, and dives into reproduction and birth control by Grade 6.
In junior high, students learn about body image, social influence, sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections and their prevention, the influence of alcohol and safer sex.
The mandatory high-school class, Career and Life Management, covers relationships, values, decision-making, consent, pregnancy options and more.
Withholding sexual education means young people may get pregnant or spread sexually transmitted diseases without understanding how to protect themselves. They may not understand consent. The pronoun rules, washroom and sports bans and sexual education regulations are all direct attacks on our bodily autonomy. These are attempts at control over individual decisions.
While women and other marginalized groups have made gains, it’s happening at a slow pace. Provincial pay transparency legislation will mean that universities, including UFV, will have to report publicly on pay equity. This reporting requirement starts with the largest employers in the province, so it may be some time before we know what the pay gap, if any, is here at UFV. It’s information I asked the university for when I was the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of BC Status of Women rep on your FSA executive in 2013.
You can take action. You have power. Sign the Canadian Labour Congress pledge to be a gender justice champion at work. Commit to:
- Valuing women’s work
- Ending gender-based violence at work
- Fixing the childcare crisis
- Making work fairer
In solidarity,
Lisa Morry
VP Engagement
International Women’s Day Events
In honour of International Women’s day on March 8th, join the FSA this March for female-empowered recreation opportunities!
We know that women can feel less comfortable joining in on sports and recreation opportunities because of various societal barriers. Working with UFV Campus Recreation, the FSA invites all cis and trans female-identifying people, and non-binary folks to move their bodies with us at the following female-empowered events:
Women’s & Co-ed drop-in Pickleball at the Abbotsford Campus
Pickle-ball enthusiast Leanne Tielman will help us all learn the popular new game of pickleball! Beginners and fellow enthusiasts welcome. Come for the exercise, stay for the fun. Free for FSA members.
Date: March 7
Time: All gender session: 12pm – 2:00pm | Women’s session: 3:00 – 5:00pm
Location: North Gym, Building E